Equalising paternity benefits with maternity – and upping them both – seems like a good place to start to encourage culture of equality at work & home, whereby fathers’ role in their children’s lives is equal to the mothers’ from the start, employers too would have to ‘acknowledge’ this as basic and therefore begin to take out of the system glass-ceilings, pay gaps etc as any notions of ‘becoming pregnant during a contract’ can no longer be deemed solely within the realm of women. It’s inclusive, recognises the realities of modern family life, kids & dads seeing more of each other, more invested in each others day to day lives from the start, and enables women to take a lateral step away from any insistence that only they know how to do it, the whole ‘it’s quicker if I change the nappy cos he’s so crap at it’ thing. Give men a chance to prove that they can, and to share the responsibility of having children on a fundamental level. If men knew they’d be taking say 6 months/a year off work to have a child, they’d be as invested in the decision as women have to be.
648-11